Motivation Monday

The weekend really seemed to fly by, but I guess they all really do.  So what is motivating me this fine hot Monday?  Progress.  I really feel like the last two weeks I have made huge progress in returning to running.  Makes me so happy! 

Before I tell you more, meet the newest member of our animal family, Shorty.  We were in need of a new kid horse and my Dad found this guy for us.  Thanks Dad!  The kids both rode him Saturday and Sunday and did great riding by themselves.  Soon they will be ready for some cow chasing action!

I rode Shorty a little bit too, he is pretty short so he is pretty easy to jump up onto if you get him in a low spot.  Super nice horse

So let's talk progress, Saturday I got up and biked 14 miles.  Am I supposed to say biked or cycled? Bicycled?  I wanted to run, but figured it would be good to throw in a cross training day.  It felt good. 

I think my bike has a bunch of gears, but they never have shifted very smooth for me so I usually just leave it in the same gear for the whole ride.  I had to mess around a little but I found one that works pretty good. I have no plans to do a triathlon or biathlon so I am not worried about it.  Works great for me!

Sunday I decided to do something a little crazy.  I decided to try for 5 miles. Used to be such a short distance for me, but I hadn't run more than four miles since the beginning of May when this whole quad strain thing went down.

 I made the run so that if I wanted/needed to quit at 4 miles I would be close to my house.  I am not going to lie, I am a little afraid of restraining it right now.  I ran the whole 5 miles. I did take a couple of short walking breaks, but still longest run of June! Talk about a happy girl.

I started July out the same way I ended June..5 more miles this morning and it felt even better than it did yesterday.  I have to admit.. this makes me ecstatically happy!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love getting to run before the sun comes up.  A perfect way to start a day.

If you squint, you can maybe see a little tiny pin point of light on the far far hills in the middle of the picture.  Even if you can't, trust that I could at 5 this morning.  Pretty sure it was my Dad out putting up bales of hay.  The air smells so sweet right now with all the hay being cut and baled all around us.  Love it.

Ahh yep there it is..5 miles!  This one was from yesterday. I actually did more like 5.15 miles today.

I threw in a speedy last mile today to test it out a little.  well semi speedy for me, but considering my
super slow plod along pace lately an 8:20 mile was pretty good.  I would normally hate how much the 5 miles kicked my butt, however, right in this moment I am just thrilled to be running.  I am on my way back.

My plan for July is just to continue building my base. 

No races. 

No serious speed work. 

More strength training. 

 Listen to my body.

 

So when do I plan to start racing again?  I don't know yet.  The only thing I have on my calendar is a Ragnar in Colorado in the beginning of September.  I won't be doing my legs speedy, just enjoying the fun.  There is a half marathon here at the end of October, that I am tempted to train for.  It would be no PR attempt, but a sort of "Hello I am back!" kind of run.

 

What is motivating your workouts today?